Basket



w. B. LUEWENBERG.

BASKET.` APPLICATION FILED MAR- 5 192|.

Famed m9191921.

ser

, BASKET.

Application led March 5, 1921. SeralNo. 449,820,

To aZZ whom t may concern Be it known that WILLIAM B. LonwnN- BERG, acitizen of the United States, resid. ing at Maion, in the county ofGrant and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Baskets; and l do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame. f

My invention relates to improvements in split or market baskets of ythetype having a single arched handle. These baskets as now commonlyconstructed, cannot be nested and even though they may be connected witheach other in bunches, a great deal of waste space necessarily existswhen shipping, but nevertheless the freight rates are the same, as ifall of the car capacity were used. My invention aims to overcome thisdifficulty by the provision of a foldable handle which may be swungdownwardly topermit a number of the baskets to be nested for shipment.Folding handles have heretofore been devised for this purpose as seenfor instance in my own U. S. Patent No. 1,354,115 of September 28, 1920.In this patented device however, as well as in the other devices towhich l refer, the handle is -not connected with the basket as ricidl assupplemented by -Ithe Vaccompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a side.elevation of a basket constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical transverse section as indicated byline'2-2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a detail horizontal sectional view rasindicated by line 3-'3 of Fig. 2.`

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective viewI showing the handle inoperative position.

Fig. 5 is a duplicate of Fig. 4 with the exception that it illustratesthe handle in condition for folding.

ln the drawings above vbriefly described, the numeral 1 designates abasket whose general formation of wooden splints, is quite common,although a number of iin- Speccation of Letters Eatent. i atntgdDecfillgzl..

provements have been made@k Thev Ariindof the basket is formed of outerand innerv bands 2 and 3 secured together at intervals on opposite sidesof the -usual vertical splints. At the center of the basket, two

relatively thin splints 4 and a thicker splint 5 extend across thebottom of the ,basket and up along the sides thereof, with their uperends received between the bands 2 and..

eceived between the vertical portionsof v the splints 4 and located oneat eachjside of the basket,are two vertical lreinforcing strips 6 whichare relatively stiff. These strips project above the basket rimasindicated at 7 and due to .f the fact that the sides of the basketdiverge upwardly, said projecting strip ends are inclined tofsomeextent.l To secure the upper end portions of the strips 6 in place, anumber of .nails clenched in the, v`

means of bolts l0 to vthe sidesof the basket at points preferably nearits vertical center, although this is notabsolutely essential.- Thebolts 10 `pass through the ends ofthe handle 9, through Vthe lsplints4.and -5,

through the reinforcing stripsY 6, and pref? yerablythrough at least one`of the horizon- ,tall splints 11 of'which'the basket isfpar'- 'tiallyconstructed. `Due to the inclination of the projecting strip ends?v andthecurvature vof* the handle 9,?said strip ends converge upwardly withthe handle as clearlyv shown in'Fig's. 2 and jand I' make use of thisconvergence to frictionally bind apair sleeves being slidable'on" thehandle and of metal sleeves 12 inV operative position to i' .hold thehandle .9 upright for use, said being tapered for snug contact with thel strip ends 7 4and the adjacent portions of the handle asshown in Figs.2 and'4.v

By the construction shown land described v,or its mechanicalequivalent,abasket provided which is not only advantageous on account of having afolding handle, but on account of the fact that it is effectivelyreinforced by the strips 6 and their association with the verticalsplints.

In additionto performing this reinforcingV function however it will beseen that the parts in question form a j durable construction towhic'hthe handle may be pivoted withoutlio danger of injuring the basket, evenwhen it is heavily loaded.y Also the upper ends of the strips 6 coactwith the sleeves 12 in securing the handle in vertical position, whilepermitting it to be. swung downwardly whenever required.k The basketsmay be shipped in nested relation with their handles swung downwardly asindicated in dotted lines in Fig. l and a great deal of space istherefore saved in freight cars or other transporting mediums,`whichmeans a great financial saving to the manufacturer or the dealer, as thecase maybe, and ultimately tothe public. Wheny received, the handles ofthebaskets may be easily swung upwardly for use and held by the sleeves12 and if it is desired to at all times retain said handles in anupright position,

tacks may be driven above the sleeves as indicated by the dotted linesin Fig. 2, or below said sleeve into the rim of the basket. However, inmost cases, it will be desired to omit the tacks so that the sleeves maybe raised whenever it is required to fold the handle, Vfor instance tosave store roo1n,'es pecially in large cities. j

The device is simple and inexpensive, yet is highly ellicient and inevery way desirable and since excellent results have been obtained fromthe details disclosed, I prefer to follow these details. However, withinthe scope of theinvention as claimed, numerous minor changes may be madeto embody the improved features in forms other than those shown.

I claim:

l. The combination with a basket, of a pair of reinforcing stripssecured to the sides of said basket and extending above the same, anarched handle pivoted to said reinforcing strips at points spaceddownwardly from their upper ends, andtmeans for connecting the handlewith saidk projecting strip ends to hold it inupright position.

2. The combination with a basket, of a pair of reinforcing stripssecured to `the sides of said basket and extending above the same, anarched handleV pivoted to said reinforcing strips at points 4spaceddownwardly from their upper ends, and sleeves slidable on said handleand adapted to pass j around the upwardly projecting ends of upwardlydiverging sides, of a pair of reinforcing strips secured to said sidesand projecting above the same, an arched handle pivoted to said stripsat the outer sides of the basket and converging upwardly with saidprojecting strip ends, and tapered sleeves slidable on said handle andadapted to wedgeover said projecting strip ends to hold the handleinupright position.

a. A splint basket having a rim formed of inner and outer bands, andprovided at its center with a plurality of .superposed splints extendingacross the bottom of the basket and up its sides with their free endsanchored between said bands of the rim, relatively stiff verticalreinforcing strips secured between the vertical portions of said splintsand projecting above the basket rim, an arched handle stradding thebasket, fasteners passing through said handle and through the aforesaidsplints and reinforcing strips to pivotally connect the handle to thebasket, and means for connecting said handle with said projecting stripends above its pivots, whereby to hold the handle in upright position.

5. A splint basket having a rim formed of inner and outer bands,andprovided at its center with a plurality of superposed splintsextending across the bottom of the basket and up its sides with theirfree ends anchored between said bands ofthe rim,

relatively stiff vertical reinforcing strips secured between thevertical portions of said splints and projecting above the basket rim,an arched handle straddling the basket, fasteners passing through saidhandle andy through the aforesaid splintsV and reinforcing` strips topivotally connect the handle to the basket, and sleeves slidable onsaidv handle and adapted to pass around the upwardly projecting ends ofsaid reinforcing strips to rigidly vhold said handle in uprightposition.

6. The combination with a basket, of lugs rising from the sidesvthereof, an arched handle straddling the basket in the saineV transverseplane with said lugs and pivotally connected with said basket below saidlugs, said lugs converging upwardly with the handle, and tapered sleevesslidable on the handle to wedge over said lugs and hold the handle inupright position. j Y

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. c

WILLIAM'B. LOEWENBERG.

